Page 34 of Memories of the Past

* * *

I sat at the small table in the front window of The Crispy Biscuit waiting for Peggy to arrive. I was glad Ava was opening the store for me this morning, which she normally did on Thursday morning. After last night, the last thing I wanted to do was be cheerful.

“What can I get for you today, Trinity?” Melinda asked, approaching the table.

“Do you have the pumpkin spiced latte yet?” I smiled, hoping that they had begun getting some of their fall items.

“Ah, let me check with Brooke. I know she ordered some things last week, so they might have come in,” Melinda said, pocketing her little order pad in her apron.

“Oh, and Peggy should be here any minute,” I called.

I flipped through the Willow Valley Real Estate booklet, checking to see if Thomas had in fact listed the ranch but could find nothing.

“You’re in luck, Trinity. Brooke said they came in. Just give me a few minutes to find it, okay.”

“Great, thank you!”

Just then, the familiar sound of those two little bells chimed, and Peggy walked in. She immediately spotted me, smiled, and came over. “How are you this morning.”

“Not too bad. You?”

“Doing okay. It’s nice to have the day off after this week.” Peggy placed her purse beside her and removed her white jean jacket, then looked at me.

“What?” I questioned.

“Well, what happened last night? Leave nothing out. I’m dying to know all about it.”

I hated to disappoint Peggy, but there was nothing to tell. After I’d left, I came home, I curled up with the cat, and read for a while before going to bed. “Not much to tell. Thomas is the same way he’s always been.”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s never grown up. He’s never accepted responsibility for what he did. He just doesn’t understand how he made me feel all those years ago, and to be honest, I don’t think he ever will. He tried to blame what happened between us on me. If you can believe that!”

“Well, since I have no clue what exactly happened, why don’t you tell me. Perhaps then I can help you?” she said, leaning back against the booth and removing her scarf from around her neck.

Melinda brought over two pumpkin spice lattes and set them in front of us. Each of us took a sip and placed our breakfast order, and then I began telling Peggy all about the past, all about what had happened. She listened intently, never once interrupting, except when breakfast was delivered. When I was finished, I took of sip of my latte and looked over at my friend, who’d just placed her fork down on the table and wiped the edges of her mouth with her napkin.

“What do you think?”

“I’ve known you for a long time, Trinity. I don’t really know how to say this.”

“Just say it. Aunt Vi certainly hasn’t been gentle about things either,” I said.

“What was your aunt’s recommendation?”

I smirked. “That I need to stop being so stubborn.”

Peggy looked at me and nodded. “Without sounding like Aunt Vi, I’d tend to agree with her. I think you might be overreacting a little bit here.”

“Geez, thanks a lot,” I said, placing my fork down on the table and looking at my best friend.

“Seriously, I think perhaps you are both at fault. I think Thomas maybe miscommunicated how he truly felt, given all that he was going through at the time, and I think you were reading into his words and not trusting your heart, even then. I think that deep down you know he loved you so much that he’d of given you anything you wanted, and perhaps that scared you, just like it does now. I think it might be time to let the guard down just a little and see what happens,” Peggy said.

I didn’t want to hear this. I looked around the restaurant avoiding eye contact with Peggy for a moment. I wasn’t sure what I was feeling now, but I certainly didn’t want to let my guard down.

“What is it?” Peggy asked.

“You know, I miss my old life. The one without Thomas in it. I’ll just be happy once he has left Willow Valley for good. The sooner he can get that ranch up and sold, the better off I’ll be,” I said, swallowing hard.

---